Section 82. Crunch Numbers with the Calculator

82. Crunch Numbers with the Calculator

Whether it's calculating the tip at a restaurant or attempting to get a ballpark estimate on a mortgage payment, sometimes a pocket calculator is an invaluable tool. Because few of us have enough nerd pride to boldly carry a pocket calculator with us at all times, we have to settle for whatever else is handy. Fortunately, your BlackBerry device includes a calculator that works well for basic calculations, not to mention converting between English and metric units of measure. Hardcore number crunchers won't be abandoning their spreadsheets and financial calculators to embrace the BlackBerry's software calculator, but it does a great job of carrying out long division in a pinch !

82. Crunch Numbers with the Calculator

1.	Open the Applications Screen Scroll to the Applications icon on the Home screen and click the trackwheel. The Applications screen appears, displaying a list of applications you can launch.
2.	Launch the Calculator Application Scroll to the Calculator icon and click the trackwheel. The Calculator application launches and appears.
3.	Crunch Some Numbers The Calculator application provides the basic functionality of a run-of-the-mill calculator with a few extra bells and whistles. To begin crunching numbers, just type the numbers on the keyboard and use the keys on the calculator's onscreen keyboard to carry out mathematical functionsuse the trackwheel to scroll around and click to select the different functions. You can use the Enter key as a shortcut for the equals key on the calculator. TIPS To scroll vertically down the calculator keys onscreen, hold the Alt key while scrolling the trackwheel. The L key serves as a shortcut for the calculator's decimal-point key. If you're like me and you always forget how to use the memory functions on a calculator, here's a brief refresher. The idea behind calculator memory is to allow you to store a single number for use in another calculation. To place a number in memory, type the number and click the M+ key. To recall the number, click the MR key. To clear the number from memory, click the MC key. And finally, to replace the number with another number, type the new number and click the MS key. Also, if you click the M+ key while a number is already stored in memory, the current number on the screen is added to the number in memory. If a number is stored in the calculator memory, it is displayed on the lower-left edge of the calculator.
4.	Convert Units of Measure Aside from allowing you to carry out basic calculations, the Calculator application enables you to convert between English and metric units of measure. To carry out such a conversion, type a number and click the Menu key on the calculator. Select To Metric or From Metric on the menu to determine which way you want to convert units. The menu changes to present a list of conversion options. Select the desired option, for example ( km -> mi ) to convert kilometers to miles, and click to carry out the conversion.
5.	Exit the Application Press the Escape button to exit the application. Press the Escape button again to navigate back to the Home screen, or just press the End key once to exit the application and return directly to the Home screen.